A Simple Darkness (The Young Ancients: Tiera) Page 28

  The others went wide eyed and stared at her, as if she were going to fly off to kill the girl right then, or maybe start after her County again. Instead she grinned.

  "Well of course she thinks I'm a bitch. I'm amazed daily that she hasn't tried to kill me yet. I wouldn't think she'd drink though, being a builder. Why was she in the tavern I wonder?"

  Mitchell didn't know at all, but did opine that Sandra was cute.

  "You're cute too. Only nice thing about you. We could go back to my room and you could prove you aren't a Doretta. You're small enough you have to be tight..." His leer wasn't very accurate, since he stumbled halfway through. Still it was an offer and she didn't want to be rude about it.

  "Well, that's an offer..." She just couldn't help but sound sarcastic. It was a trial and Sir Kolbrin at least was fighting a smile from his face. "I don't think I can today. I actually have plans this evening, which will mean getting ready all day. Cooking and baking. Plus... I don't know if you'll be able to walk later. Maybe after tomorrow? If you can move at all?"

  The boy didn't answer, and Sir Kolbrin didn't start hitting him instantly, but rather had him start working the far corner of the weapons square with a brush and a bucket of pond water. It wasn't hard to keep things clean really, but it was a thing to do anyway and boring.

  David walked over to make sure the other boy kept up a good pace and Sir Kolbrin gently took her to the table with the healing amulet and handed it to her, speaking while her body repaired itself.

  "I fear Mitchell isn't going to make it in our program. He's never been that serious of a student. I took him on as a favor to the Headmaster, to tell the truth. You can't beat a willingness to work into people though, only fear of pain. I just wish he had something else he was good at. This really does seem to be his main skill area." Taking a few seconds he got a dipperful of water from the large wooden barrel, it was half empty, which meant it needed to be refilled. They all took turns doing that, she'd noticed, but hadn't done that herself yet. There was a bucket for it, but you had to go to the clean water tap across the commons.

  Picking up the container she started to walk away with it, only to find a large hand on her shoulder.

  "The boy, he's drunk and didn't mean to be insulting I don't think."

  "Really? It seemed that he sort of meant it to me. Tell him that I expect to find him out here at first light in the morning, will you please? If he comes in drunk I'll need help burying the body later and drafting a letter to his parents." She'd never done that before, but it would need to happen. They couldn't be left in the dark, it would be too much to ask of them. Poor people, having such a waste for a child.

  There was a chuckle then, and a slap on the back that was hard enough to remind her to get her shield back on. That part was dangerous, taking things on and off like that. Handy for weapons work, but not so great for anything else. Look at Trice. She'd swallowed the one for her arm, but if she'd had a shield she wouldn't have been raped, would she? It just wouldn't have happened. That wouldn't work for everything, but...

  Tiera tilted her head.

  "What if we put the amulets under our skin. Could we heal over it? Then they'd be with us all the time... I've seen that done actually. I can't say where." It was a sudden leap in topic, but the weapons master seemed to follow anyway.

  "That sounds expensive. Can you get it done? You have some family connections that could do things that might not be possible otherwise." He seemed excited by the prospect, but didn't seem to think of it as very likely.

  Magic was expensive and the item that had been used on Carol Coltress was very special, wasn't it? Count Lairdgren had made it himself. It was tiny and fit under the skin, a disguise amulet that was made to cause the woman to seem ugly, like an old washer woman. That was Baron Coltress' wife, but the man seemed to think that her running down Bonita was worth a bit of payback. It worked pretty well though. Tiera had seen the woman and couldn't tell that it was the same person at all after it had happened.

  She just needed to ask, didn't she? It might not be something that could be done, but, why not?

  The large and scarred man let her go then, so that she could see about the rest of what was needed for the day. First begging kitchen space from Ali, and then seeing to the shopping and the rest.

  It took hours to get it all done. Ali was, oddly enough, actually doing magical copy work, which was a new thing for her, but was kind of impressive for all that. Tiera wasn't up to doing it yet, so thought it was pretty special. That meant that it was Sheri that met her at the door of Ali's magical house, and the girl didn't seem overly pleased to see her at all.

  "I... don't know if I can help you. It really isn't my kitchen to lend out. I suppose it would be alright..." Her hesitancy had nothing to do with what Ali really wanted, Tiera knew. It nearly poured out of the girl, it was there in the way she held her body, the expression on her face.

  She really just didn't want the smaller girl around, not even for a few hours while she cooked.

  "Well, thank you. I'll try not to get in the way." That, it turned out, wasn't a real problem, since Sheri just made a smaller kitchen for Tiera to use, so that they didn't have to be in the same place at all. That meant doing some shopping, which took several hours, even though the town wasn't that big, because she had to get everything. Flour and starter, sugar and spices, meat and vegetables. Then some butter which she decided would serve as the oil portion for everything.

  At about eight-thirty she moved it all back to her room, and realized that she didn't have any dishes to serve things on at all. Rolling her eyes she nearly threw a pot against the wall. Who did that? Made all that hot food and then didn't even get a plate? For a few seconds she was just stuck, but then she walked to the dining room and just took some platters and silverware to use. She'd bring it back and while they weren't supposed to take food from the dining hall, no one had ever said anything about the utensils. They were a little plain, but then they were going to be using her little school desk as a table and sitting on beds, weren't they?

  The first knock was Regina, who hadn't been asked to come, which was an oversight. The girl saw the arrangements and winced, but just looked down and shook her head.

  "I'm sorry, I didn't know you had plans." The whole thing sounded dismal and like she wanted to cry.

  "Silly, I just forgot to let you know I expected you. Notice, three sets of everything? I have a friend coming in from out of town. You'll love him, I think. He's really nice and even good looking." She thought so at least.

  They didn't have to wait long, since the light knock on the door came exactly at one minute to nine. Which was the perfect time to show up. Tiera expected that he'd be there surrounded by guards, but instead it was just him, holding not one, but two bunches of flowers.

  "You look lovely. You mentioned that you were bringing a friend for me too?" He handed Regina the arrangement of flowers, which got her to go wide eyed. It was a lovely thing, if not huge, but she smelled it anyway, her eyes closing.

  "This is incredible. I bet the Queen doesn't have flowers this nice most of the time."

  "Well, honestly she does. I went to her lady for these. I almost went full out, but you know, if I do that on the first date, then what's left for birthdays?" His smile was charming and he bowed to them both, which meant Tiera needed to introduce him.

  He clearly didn't expect to be hiding who he was. Not talking about the Queen's florist like that.

  "Regina Helmsley, who isn't just lovely, but my girlfriend, meet my... boyfriend, Alphonse Cordes." It was heavy handed all the way around, but neither of them corrected her. Regina looked shocked, but that was about the Prince being himself, most likely. She certainly seemed flustered enough.

  Tiera just had them all sit, and passed around the platters, feeling a little silly, like a girl playing house in the back yard. If that was the case though, her dolls were certainly nicer this time. They ate school fashion, like she was used to doing at home, rather than
the polite palace way. She didn't have the dishware for that anyway. No one seemed to question it.

  Alphonse let his foot move out and touch hers gently.

  "This is very nice. I see you have the traditional Lairdgren dish set?" He smiled about it though, not making fun. "I used to own a set or two myself, when I was here."

  Then, oddly, he turned the conversation to Reggie and they spent most of the meal discussing her and what she wanted to do with her life.

  "Well, I'm in homemaking, and my father is pretty set on that path for me. Marrying well and all that. It's really set out for me pretty plainly. I suppose it could be worse." She didn't sound upset by it at all and Alphonse acted interested enough.

  After dessert, which was a variation of a fruit and nut bread, lightly sweetened with sugar on the top Tiera packed the trays away and set things aside. There was a lull then, as they all waited for something to happen, at least that's what she figured was going on.

  "Well... Why don't we get our clothes off? You two need to show me what to do though." At least she knew about birth control, since her ma had shown her how to do all that before she left for school. The others stared at her like she was insane though for some reason. The Prince recovered first smiling hugely.

  "Sounds like a plan. Are you staying Regina? It could be interesting." His voice was playful and filled with both charm and a bit of disbelief, as if he didn't really think anything was intended to actually happen.

  She giggled, but hit her amulet, which hung around her neck suddenly leaving her without clothing. That changed the dynamic of the room a lot and Tiera focused on the wall plate, dimming the lights a bit, before doing the same thing. Then Alphonse did.

  It was, as promised, interesting. Most of the time was spent kissing, and for some reason the other two were doing most of that. Finally she got a turn with each of them at least, which was instructive, since she got to use her mouth on a man, and actually have real sex. Tiera had been told it would hurt, but it didn't really. That was probably more due to the idea she just didn't think of discomfort the same way as she used to. She bled a bit, but managed not to make a huge mess of things.

  After they cleaned up and cuddled for a bit, which she was informed, was considered polite if you had the time, Alphonse sent Reggie away, trying not to seem like he was. The instant the door left he turned and looked at her as if surprised.

  "I didn't think that you meant it. I just came to pass some messages. Not that this wasn't fun. Of course if Tor ever finds out that I slept with his sister I'll need to sleep with one eye open, won't I?" He kissed her, but just on the cheek. "Still, I won't tell if you don't. It isn't like he hasn't taken a turn with each of mine."

  He handed over a very small packet, one with only three letters to be delivered and spoke the instructions in a way that sounded like he was repeating someone else.

  "These need to go out as soon as possible. Under cover of darkness. The spies believe that you're being watched." Then he touched her shoulder again, almost tenderly. "Be careful. After what happened to Trice and Gerent... Mother almost forbade you from being involved in this at all. On the good side, everyone is in the Capital right now for those." He gestured at the letters and then shrugged.

  The problem seemed to be that everyone was being watched. So much so that no one was certain who was working for whom exactly anymore. That meant she'd be seen going in and out.

  So there would need to be some kind of trick involved.

  Tiera sighed and looked at the food mess in her room. She needed to get that cleaned up and some sleep would have been really nice. She was going to be in trouble if she didn't get at least a little that night. She could go first thing in the morning, except she had that punishment she had to see to first.

  Shaking her head she stood up.

  "On it then. So, you like Regina alright?" It was important to her, that they all be friends. Even if the Prince was just doing things with her to be helpful and make the cover for passing notes stick.

  "Oh, she's grand. I'm very glad I thought to bring those extra flowers. Next time we should see about getting away to the beach for your off days. We can bring her along too, maybe a few others. I haven't gone in years."

  It sounded fun to her too, so she nodded, but didn't comment on the idea. There was just too much to do.

  The trip to the Capital was fast enough, since she'd changed into all black clothing with a hood that pulled down over her face and made her Craft all black like she had before. She was almost certain that she was leaving before the Prince and his guard had a chance to, which would give her some cover, she thought. If people were watching her, they might be distracted by those others.

  The hard part would be finding everyone, except, of course, it really wasn't that difficult. They all had either their own estates, were staying at the palace, which meant that they didn't need her to pass letters, or lived close enough to come in each day, flying.

  That or they were staying with Tor and Ali at their palace, even though neither of them were in at the moment. So with Collette Coltress then really. The messages really only had to go to the ones that weren't easily available at night. That meant Count Peterson, which was really a letter to Princess Veronica, she didn't doubt, and two others actually in the Capital itself. Countess York was one of them, and a Count she hadn't really met before, Isle. It was a funny name, but easy to remember, and she had a good idea where his place was in town.

  She stopped by the airbase first and even though it was one in the morning, found everyone still awake and alert. It was a military base though, so she was stopped immediately as she stepped out of her Craft in front of the main gate.

  "Halt! Identify yourself." The man that said the words had a stern, but professional air about him, so she tried not to take offense. At least he asked who she was before insulting her. It showed a certain professionalism.

  "Tiera Baker. Conserina Lairdgren. I was invited to visit. Late at night... You know." She left it at that and so did the man that had done the speaking. The other one didn't so much as let his face twitch knowingly. They were both tall, and matched in height, six-six exactly, at a guess. They wore all black and had little pouches for weapons, but didn't have one out. They did have flying gear on however, which meant they'd be shielded. Not that Tiera was planning to fight with them, but she couldn't help but notice.

  "Please wait here. We have to send a message to the Count." That meant flying over, even though it was night. She had the distinct feeling that the man was trying to show off, just a little. It was cute.

  Also a lot faster than walking would have been. Not five minutes later he flew back and let her in, smiling this time. Now he seemed a little knowing, which was a bit presumptuous of him really. Not that much. She was the one that had brought the topic up after all.

  "This way. They're waiting for you in the main parlor."

  That meant going to the right hand side of the rather large, double walled compound, where there was a house set up that was nearly half the size of the King's palace itself. It wasn't magical, she didn't think, rather one made of focus stone. It was a nice black color in the night, and decorated with small lights all over the outside. The man with her stopped at the door, but the servant inside looked awake still and led her down the well carpeted hallway to a large room filled with padded focus stone furniture. That made sense, the manufacturing facility for that being only about fifty miles away or so. There were very few trees in the Wildlands yet, so bringing in wood would actually cost more. A new planting effort had been started though, so eventually it would be green. That would be something to see.

  Trees were wonderful after all.

  Veronica smiled at her and moved in for a hug, which was friendlier than she would have figured on it being, to tell the truth. It was nice though, that she felt comfortable doing things like that. Count Peterson actually picked her up, his version of being friendly having a good bit more energy.

  "There you are!
I thought you might have been putting us off. Well, let's have some fun then. I have some brandy around here somewhere. Feel free to take your clothing off... Just lie down anywhere." The thing was, it was very clear that the large and handsome man was joking with her for some reason. After a few seconds he laughed, which got a tolerant smile from his wife.

  "Don't mind him, he thinks it's funny, because the story as to your visit is that you, well, came to visit. He doesn't really expect you to do anything. I would, do things with you personally, but, hmm, well. Things are not looking good in that direction. It's convoluted, but it seems that we may be a little more related than is strictly apparent. It isn't you at least, please trust me there."

  Tiera nodded, not getting it all, but knowing enough that she could tell they weren't planning to actually do much that way to solidify the cover she'd come up with.

  "No problem at all. Count Peterson and I can just go to the other room, so it won't be indiscreet. That is how that works right?" It wasn't of course, even she knew that, but there was a certain level of happiness involved to the whole thing that made it easier to play a bit. It was nearly friendly. "I probably don't honestly have time. Here..." She moved into the Count, since he was the one getting the letter and started to give him another hug, slipping the letter into the back of his trousers, which seemed to be real, not magical at all. That done she quickly gave the Princess another hug and made her leave, loudly suggesting that they visit her soon too. It was both polite and gave her a reason to have people around every now and then.

  Then, half an hour later, she actually managed to be off to see Countess York. That one was harder, since the woman seemed to want to make getting in touch with her very difficult indeed. She might have been on their side, but that didn't mean she really wanted to be part of anything in particular. That made sense, because wars could be costly. Tiera knew that one first hand.